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REPORT on the 

Educational Situation 
in MARYLAND by a 
Special Committee 
of the Board of State 
ylirf and Charities 



CONSISTING OF 

Dr. Philip Briscoe 

Thomas M. Bartlett 

H. Wirt Steele 






PRINTED AND BOUND 
at the 

MARYLAND SCHOOL FOR BOYS 

LOCH RAVEN, MARYLAND 
1914 








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REPORT on the 

Educational Situation 
in MARYLAND by a 
Special Committee 
of the Board of State 
Aid and Charities 



CONSISTING OF 

Dr. Philip Briscoe 

Thomas M. Bartlett 

H. Wirt Steele 



PRINTED AND BOUND 
at the 

MARYLAND SCHOOL FOR BOYS 

LOCH RAVEN, MARYLAND 
1914 






fl . of d. 



Baltimore, Maryland 
October 29, 1913 



His Excellency, Phillips Lee Goldsborough 

govenor of the state of maryland 
The General Assembly of Maryland 

Annapolis, Maryland 
Gentlemen: 

The following Report is submitted for your consideration by the 
Board of State Aid and Charities, not with the feeling that the recom- 
mendations therein contained are necessarily the best solution of the 
difficulties pointed out. None of the members of the Board is an ed- 
ucational expert and the Report is not put out in the nature of ex- 
pert advice. 

During the Fall and early Winter of 1912 and 1913, the Secre- 
tary visited all of the Institutions receiving State Aid. These visits 
showed certain conditions in regard to the educational situation, par- 
ticularly the Academic Fund, which he presented in a brief report to 
the Board in February last. As a result of this Report the Board ap- 
pointed a Committee consisting of Dr. Philip Briscoe, Thomas M. 
Bartlett and H. Wirt Steele. This Committee made a through study 
of the whole educational field, consulted many educational experts in- 
cluding the United States Commissioner of Education, Russell Sage 
Foundation, Dr. E. F. Buchner, head of the John Hopkins Summer 
School for Teachers, State Superintendent of Education, and the 
heads of practically all of the Institutions of higher learning getting 
State appropriations. In October, this Committee submitted the fol- 
lowing Report, which was adopted by the Board, ordered printed and 
distributed throughout the community. 

Charles J. Bonaparte, President 

H. Wirt Steele 

William Levy 

Dr. Philip Briscoe 

Thomas V. Richardson 

Thomas M. Bartlett 

Emory L. Coblentz 

Wm. H. Davenport, 

Secretary 



REPORT 



ON THE 

EDUCATIONAL SITUATION 

IN 

M ARYLAN D 

To the Board of State Aid and Charities: 

The Report of your undersigned Committee, ap- 
pointed to consider the Educational situation, respectfully 
shows: 

That the Educational System of this State is, in some 
respects, antiquated and inefficent. It is the result of a 
series of Acts beginning in 1798 and running up to 1912. 
During this time, there have been several more or less 
complete re-organizations but in a measure these have 
taken the form of amendments to the law and a "patching 
up" of the system rather than a complete re-organization. 
It is the opinion of your Committee that the time has 
now come for such a complete re-organization, and we beg 
herewith to outline the conditions as they exist at present 
and a suggestion for such a re-organization. 

That it is the duty of the State to support a system of 
Education it is hardly necessary to prove but the following 
arguments have been advanced to show that Maryland 
should have such a system: 

1. The Maryland Constitution provides "that the Gen- 
eral Assembly at its first session after the adoption 
of this Constitution, shall, by law, establish through- 



out, the State, a through and efficient system of 
free Public Schools and shall provide by taxation or 
otherwise for their maintenance." 

2. The Legislature and the State Board of Education 
have set certain minimum standards which each 
County system must meet, thereby establishing its 
authority as well as its responsibility for the effici- 
ency of those systems. These minimum require- 
ments embrace the following: 

a- Course of study. 

b. Length of school year. 

c. Salaries paid teachers. 

d. Compulsory attendance of pupils. 

e. Number of pupils required to maintain a 

school. 

f. Requiring admission into schools near the 

dividing line of pupils from other 
Counties. 

3. The power of appointing the officers controlling 

these systems is lodged in the Governor and 
not in any local officer or electorate. 

4. The duty of the State in this respect is recognized 

in other States, and in many, has been so de- 
cided by the highest courts therein. 

5. No County can solely and entirely educate its 

future citizens. The child educated today in 
one County, may a decade hence be a resident 
of the city or another county; and vice versa, 
the man who is a resident of any given county 
ten years from the present may now be receiv- 
ing his education in an entirely different part 
of the commonwealth. 



w 



Any consideration of the School System must include 
administration, finance and the scope of the courses. Tak- 
ing this in detail, we find at the present time the Admin- 
istration consists of the State Board of Education, the 
State Superintendent of Education, Board of County 
School Commissioners and the County School Superinten- 
dent. 

The State Board of Education is composed of six 
persons appointed by the Governor for a term of six 
years, two members retiring each year; and in addition, 
the Governor and the State Superintendent of Education, 
ex-officio. The duties of this Board are contained in Sec- 
tion 11, Article 77, Code of Public General Laws, which 
reads as follows: 

"The State Board of Education shall, to the best of their ability, 
cause the provisions of this Article to be carried into effect and may, 
if necessary, institute legal proceedings for that purpose with the 
direction and advice of the Attorney-General; *they shall enact By- 
Laws for the administration of the Public School system not at var- 
iance with this article, which, when enacted, and published, shall 
have the force of law; they shall have the power to remove or sus- 
pend any County Superintendent who may be found inefficient or in- 
competant for the discharge of duties assigned him, or guilty of such 
moral delinquency as unfits him for the office he holds; they shall ex- 
plain the true intent and meaning of the lav/, and they shall decide, 
without expense to the parties concerned, all controversies and dis- 
putes that arise under it, and their decision shall be final." 

The State Superintendent of Education is ; 
appointed by the Governor. He is the Executive Officer 
of the State Board of Education, and his duties are more 
completely shown in Section 20 of the above Article, which 
is as follows: 

"It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Education to 
inform himself and the State Board of Education as to the condition 
of the Public Schools throughout the State; to diffuse information as 
to the best methods of instruction; to receive and present to the 
State Board of Education the reports of the various Boards of County 
School Commissioners; to examine said County Boards' statements of 
expenditures of school funds and submit his judgment on the same to 
the State Board of Education; to have authority to endorse such Normal 






School diplomas from other States as he may deem proper, and when 
so endorsed they shall be legal certificates to teach in any Elementary 
Public School in the State until revoked; to arrange dates for teachers 
Institutes; and assist the County Superintendent in the preparation 
of the program for the County Teachers' Institute and also attend 
same when in session, when possible and give instruction; he shall 
devote his whole time to the duties of his office, and in every way 
conserve the interest and promote the efficiency af the Puplic Schools 
of the State; The State Superintendent shall also be the Secretary of 
the State Board of Education. 

The Boards of County School Commissioners are 
appointed by the Governor for a term of six years and con- 
sists of six persons from each of the following Counties — 
Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Dorchester, Washington 
and Montgomery; and three persons from each of the other 
Counties. Its duties are found in Section 25 of Article 77, 
which reads as follows: 

"The Board of County School Commissioners shall have the general 
snpervision and control of all the schools in their respective Count- 
ies; they shall build, repair and furnish school houses; they shall 
purchase and distribute text books; they shall, after advising with 
the Principal of the school to which the teacher is to be appointed, . 
appoint all Assistant teachers; they shall have authority to consoli- 
date schools when, in their judgment, consolidation is practicable and 
desirable, and to arrange for and pay charges of transporting pupil 
to and from such schools, and shall perform such other duties as 
may be necessary to secure an efficient administration of the Public 
School system, subject to the provisions of this article. 

The County School Superintendent is appointed 
by the County School Commissioners for a term of two 
years; is the Secretary and Treasurer of the Board as 
well as its Executive Officer, and in addition has the duties 
prescribed in Sections 72 and 76 of Article 77, which are 
as follows: 

72. "It shall be the duty of the County Examiner to examine 
candidates for the profession of teacher, in the presence of at least 
one member of the Board of County School Commissioners or one 
or more of the District Trustees, and to give to such persons as are 
found qualified, under the sanction of the Board at its next meeting a 
certificate setting forth the branches such persons are competent to 
teach; but no certifitate shall be granted without satisfactory evi- 
dence of the moral character of the applicant. ' ' 

76. "It shall be the duty of the County Superintendent or his As- 
sistant, at least three times in each year to visit the schools in his 
County, if it contains sixty teachers or less, and twice a year in Coun- 



ties having more than sixty and less than one hundred and seventy- 
five teachers, and once a year in Counties where there are more than 
one hundred and seventy-five; he shall observe the methods of the 
teachers and give him or her such practical suggestions as circum- 
stances may prompt; he shall, whenever possible, attend public ex- 
aminations and report quarterly in detail the result of his observances 
through the Board of County School Commissioners. In Counties 
where the number of teachers shall exceed one hundred and seventy- 
five, the Board of County School Commissioners may, in their discre- 
tion, appoint an Assistant County Superintendent." 

This system of County administration has been very 
highly praised and in our opinion, in the main, is good. 
There are, however, a few changes which it would seem 
advisable to your Committee, to have made as follows: 

1st. If the School System is to have a State-wide 
standard, teachers must be of the same average ability, 
for after all, all systems of administration stop when you 
get a teacher and a group of scholars facing each other 
in a room with certain paraphernalia; at the present time, 
each County Superintendent is free to give his own exam- 
ination; hence, set his own standard of qualification and 
training for the Teachers in his County. There are 
twenty-four different standards for teachers in the State. 
The only way in which a uniform curriculum may be 
worked out and applied is to have the standard of teachers 
uniform. We therefore recommend that no person be 
allowed to teach in the Public Schools of Maryland with- 
out a certificate from the State Board of Education, and 
that this certificate be given as a result of an examination 
which shall be uniform in all Counties. 

2nd. It seems folly to your Committee to have the 
State Board of Education fix the curriculum as it is now 
able to do by law and yet, not be able to prescribe 
text-books from which this course is being taken. In 
New York State, for instance, a pupil can lay down his 
books in Rochester at 3 o'clock Friday afternoon, go to 
Brooklyn, Buffalo or Albany, and start in Monday morn- 
ing within four pages of where he left off on Friday. It 



would seem then, as highly advisable to give to the State 
Board of Education, the duty of selecting the text-books 
as well as fixing the details of tne curriculum. 

3rd. At the present time the State of Maryland pays 
out every year some Two Hundred Thousand Dollars 
($200,000.00) to private Institutions mostly of higher 
earning for the education of its citizens. These schools 
are not under the supervision of any state educational au- 
thority. Their appropriations are made by the Legislature 
direct and they are not subject to the inspection or super- 
vision of any paid Educator. It would seem to your 
Committee that supervision of these schools is just as much 
a legitimate part of the work of the State Board of Educa- 
tion as is the supervision of any other schools supported 
by the State. We, therefore, respectfully recommend 
that the Legislature be forbidden to appropriate money 
to any schools which do not come up to the standard pre- 
scribed by the State Board of Education and which are 
not under its direct control. 



FINANCE 



No system of education can be carried out unless it is 
backed by adequate financial support. That the State rec- 
ognizes its duty in this respect, is shown by the fact that 
of the thirty-one cents which composes its present tax 
rate, sixteen and one-eighth cents (16|cts.) goes to the 
Public School system. That Maryland is not doing all that 
it can in this respect, however, is clear when we consider 
that a comparative study of Public School Systems in the 
forty-eight States by the Russell Sage Foundation, gives 
Maryland a rank of forty-six in the ratio of amount spent 
for school purposes to wealth, the same being but twenty- 
one cents for each One Hundred Dollars ($100) of wealth. 
The same Report ranks Maryland thirty-eighth in the 
amount of thirteen cents spent per day per child. While 



the Report of the United States Commissioner of Educa- 
tion states the per capita cost of Public School education in 
Maryland to be Two Dollars and Ninety-two cents ($2.92) 
as against an average of Four dollars and sixty-four cents 
($4.64) for the United States, and Nine dollars and twenty- 
one cents ($9.21) in the State of Washington. From this, it 
would seem that Maryland should increase its State school 
tax from sixteen and one-eighth cents to— say twenty 
cents, and that each County should be required to levy 
in local taxes a sum sufficient at least to duplicate the 
amount received from the State. Moreover, the State 
school tax should be relieved of all charges except those 
that relate to Elementary education. In order to do this, 
it would seem wise to withdraw all appropriations which 
are now paid from the General Treasury on account of aca- 
demic, free school, surplus revenue and to private Insti- 
tutions which are merely duplicating the work of public 
high schools; and in lieu thereof, to pay from the General 
Treasury teachers' pensions and the aid to High Schools 
as now provided by law to be paid from the State School 
tax. 

The County system of school management is looked 
upon favorably by authorities on the subject (Admini- 
stration of Public Education in the United States— Dutton 
and Snedden. Page 79), but it would seem wise to permit 
the separate school districts of each County, upon peti- 
tion of a definite per cent, of the tax payers therein, to 
tax themselves for the purpose of adding to the State and 
County aid in order to secure special educational advant- 
ages, such as an improved building, agricultural or other 
vocational instruction. 

Such a scheme as outlined above would put every 
part of the State upon equal footing in the matter of 
financial support to its schools. It would enable each 
County to pay such salaries as would justify the State in 



demanding that every teacher shall have had a definite and 
goodly amount of professional training before he enters 
upon his work of training the young. This is no more than 
the State demands of other professions — lawyers, doc- 
tors, dentists and even of plumbers and gas-fitters. More- 
over, such an equalization of State support would, with 
efficient administration, tend to product a uniform system 
of education, so that the product of the schools of one part 
of the State would be as efficient citizens as those of any 
other part. 

The State Board of Education reports the following re- 
ceipts from the various funds for Public School purposes 
for the year ending July 31, 1912: 

Assessed value of property, 1912 $979,309,976.00 

State Levy of 16§cts. on each $100, 1912.... 1,579,137.34 

Total Distribution State School Tax 1,206,940.12 

Free School Fund 49,711.94 

Colored Industrial Fund 16,500.00 

Academic Fund 26,200.oO 

High School Fund 110,500.00 

Free Book Fund 150.000.00 

Total from State 1,559,852.06 

County School Tax 2,487,499.74 

In addition to the above, there was appropriated to 
various Educational Institutions for the present fiscal year, 
the sum of $342,393.86 which is taken from the General 
Levy. Any radical change for the better in the school sys- 
tem will probably necessitate an increase in this amount, 
and in view of the fact that the Tax Commission appointed 
by the last Legislature, claims that by a proper and uni- 
form system of assessment the taxable basis of the State 
will probably be doubled, some increase of this amount 
should not be difficult to provide. 

Next to having the money, the most important matter 
is the distribution of the same. Funds named above may 
be briefly described as follows: 



8 



FREE SCHOOL FUND 

The Free School Fund is in turn made up of from four 
separate sources, namely; 

1. A tax upon incorporated banks, which was levied 
between 1815 and 1873 and the amount of which invested 
in stocks; the income of which was set aside for Public 
Schools of certain Counties— Allegany, Charles, Calvert 
and Garrett Counties not sharing in this fund. The in- 
come from this Fund for 1909 amounted to $7,775.11 

2. Maryland advanced money to the National Govern- 
ment for the war 1812. The money was returned to the 
State in 1858 and was invested for Public Schools. The 
income is distributed among the Counties and the City on 
the basis of their representation in the General Assembly. 
This fund during 1909 amounted to $10,379.64. 

3. In 1837, Congress ordered the distribution of the 
surplus revenue Fund in the United States Treasure 
among the States. Of Maryland's share, $681,587.25 was 
invested at 5 per cent, for the benefit of the Public Schools. 
The income from this was $34,069.56, divided into three 
parts as follows: $2,000 to Indigent Blind; one-half of 
the remainder is divided among the Counties and the City 
in proportion to their white population, w hile each of the 
Counties and the City" receive equal shares of the other 
half. 

4. An appropriation by the General Treasury of 
Thirty-three thousand dollars ($33,000) a year for the 
education of the Indigent Blind, all of which goes to the 
Maryland School for the Blind. 

ACADEMIC FUND 

In 1798 the Legislature made appropriations to two of 
the old County Academies, and from time to time thereafter 
various Academies as they sprang up, came to the Legis- 



9 



lature and got appropriations all of which were continuing 
appropriations and most of which are still being paid. In 
183] , some of the Counties in which there were no Acad- 
emies but which in the meantime had established systems 
of free Elementary Schools, complained to the Legislature 
and as a result, a law was passed giving to each County 
of the State the same appropriation. In Counties where 
there were no Academies this fund went to the County 
School Commissioners, and in the Counties where there were 
Academies, this fund went to the Academies. Since 1832, 
the appropriations have been changed in various ways as 
new Institutions spring up and old ones go out of existence 
until at the present time there is annually paid to the 
various County School Commissiers and to the Institutions 
the total sum of $26,200.00. An examination of the 
statutes show that there was apparently no contract call- 
ing for a definite number of scholarships but a donation 
pure and simple. 

The Academic Fund has entirely outgrown its use- 
fulness as is shown by the following facts in regard to the 
Institutions to which it is now paid: 

$800,00 Allegany County Academy: 

Private Institution, day school, academic grade, 
rich patrons, paralelled by the CumberlandHigh 
School, and gives eight free scholarships to citizens 
of Cumberland. This school has ninety-three pupils. 

400.00 Allegany County School Board 

800.00 Anne Arundel Academy: 

Private Boarding School, academic grade. Would 
like to develop agricultural features and is willing 
to be turned into a County Agricultural High School. 
This School has thirty-six pupils. This school also 
gets a special appropriation from the General 
Treaury of $3,000. 

400.00 Patapsco Academy; 

This school has degenerated into an ordinary grade 
school with seventeen pupils, and runs from first 



10 



to the fifth grade. There is no County Public 
School within three miles of it and it should be 
turned over to the County authorities and run by 
them as a District School. 

$1,200.00 Baltimore County School Board. 

1,200.00 Caroline County School Board. 

1,200.00 Calvert County School Board. 

500.00 Greensboro High School. 

Has ninety-five pupils, thirteen of which are on 
High School grades and does not qualify under the 
High School Act of 1910. Under control of the 
County school authorities. 

200.00 Carroll County School Board. 

500.00 Elkton Academy. 

Now known as Elkton High School. This School 
has qualified under the High School Act of 1910, 
Group 1, and received $2,300, from the appropria- 
tions to Approved High Schools. Under control of 
County School Commissioners. 

500.00 West Nottingham Academy. 

This Institution is run as a private day school doing 
fairly good academic work but apparently has no 
future. Thirty-six pupils. 

200.00 North East Classical Institute. 

This school on the day visited by our Secretary had 
two pupils present. The day was a fair day in Nov- 
ember. The teacher told him that in good weather 
they sometimes had eleven pupils, largely kinder- 
gartners. The work of the school duplicated by 
the County school within a block of it which appar- 
ently is doing better work, and certainly has a bet- 
ter equipment. 

400.00 Charles County School Board. 

300.00 Vienna Academy. 

This Institution is now known as the Vienna High 
School and is not able to qualify under the High 
School Act of 1910. Under control of the County 
School authorities. 



11 



$228. 57 East New Market Academy. 

This Institution is now known as the East New 
Market High School. It has neither teachers nor 
pupils enough to qualify under the High School Act 
of 1910, but is recognised as a County School and is 
under the authority of the County School Commis- 
sioners. 

J 571.43 Cambridge Academy. 

} 500.00 Cambridge Female Seminary. 

These Institutions, Cambridge Academy and Cam- 
bridge Female Seminary have been combined into 
the Cambridge High School which qualified under 
the High School Act of 1910, Group No. 1, and re- 
ceives $2,400 from the appropriations to approved 
High Schools. 

800.00 Frederick County College. 

This Institution is no longer in existence having 
rented its buildings for a term of years to the 
Women's College of Frederick. This latter school 
maintains eight free scholarships supposed to be 
in consideration of the State's appropriation to 
the Frederick College. The woman's College of 
Frederick applied both in 1902 and 1904 for an ap- 
propriation and each year was turned down. (See 
page 43 report of 1904 as to reason for declining 
appropriations.) 

400.00 St. John's Literary Institute. 

This is an ordinary parochial elementry school for 
boys and is run in connection with the St. John's 
Roman Catholic Church of Frederick. It does only 
elementry work. 

1,200.00 Garrett County School Board. 

500.00 Harford County School Academy. 

This Institution is now known as the Bel Air High 
School. It has qualified under the High School Act 
of 1910, Group 2, and receives $1,400.00 a year from 
approved High School funds. 

400.00 Darlington Academy. 

This Institution is now known as the Darlington 
High School and is under the control of the County 



12 



School authorities. It has not qualified under the 
High School Act of 1910. 

$300.00 Aberdeen Academy. 

This Institution is now known as the Aberdeen High 
School and has not qualified under the High School 
Act of 1910, but expects to this year. 

300.00 Harford County School Board. 
1,200.00 Howard County School Board. 

200.00 Millington Academy, 

This Institution is now known as the Millington 
High School and has not qualified under the High 
School Act of 1910. 

100.00 Galena Academy. 

This Institution is now known as the Galena High 
School and does not qualify under the High School 
Act of 1910. It is under the County School 
authorities. 

800.00 Rockville Academy. 

A private day school with about fifty pupils. It is 
paralelled by the Rockville High School and the Sec- 
retary of the Board of Trustees told our Secretary 
that were it not for an endowment, the school would 
certainly not be in existance, and that many people 
send their children to the County High School as be- 
ing the better of the two even though they had been 
offered free scholarships in the Academy. 

600.00 Brookville Academy. 

This lnsitution is now known as the Brookville 
High School. It has qualified under the High School 
Act of 1910, and receives $1,400.00 a year from the 
High School appropriations. 

400.00 Prince George's County School Board. 

800.00 Upper Marlborough Academy 

This Institution is now known as the Marlborough 
High School. It has not qualified under the Act of 
1910 but claims to be eligible and expects to apply 
this year. 



13 



$600.00 Centreville Academy. 

This Institution is now known as the Centerville 
High school. It has qualified under the High School 
Act of 1910, Group 1, and receives $2,300.00 a year 
from appropriations to High Schools. 

400.00 Queen Anne County School Board. 

400.00 St. Mary's County School Board. 

400.00 Somerset County School Board. 

600.00 Washington Academy. 

Now known as the Washington High School located 
at Princess Anne. It has qualified under the High 
School Act of 1910, Group 2, and receives $1,400.00 
a year from the High School appropriations. 

400.00 Fairmount Academy. 

Now known at the Fairmount High School which 
has not qualified under the High School Act of 1910. 

400.00 Talbot County School Board. 

800.00 E aston Academy. 

Now known as the Easton High School, has quali- 
fied under the High School Act of 1910, Group 1, and 
receives $2,300 a year from the High School appro- 
priations. 

1,200.00 Washington County School Board. 

800.00 Wicomico County School Board. 

500.00 Delmar High School 

Under the County School authorities, but has not 
qualified under the High School Act of 1910. 

400.00 Salisbury Academy. 

Now known as the Wicomico High School of Salis- 
bury. Has qualified under the High School Act of 
1910, Group 1, and receives $2,300 from the High 
School fund. 

1.200.00 Worcester County School Board. 

200.00 Church Hill Academy. 

Now known as the Church Hill High School. This 
Institution has not qualified under the Act of 1910. 

$26,200.00 TOTAL ACADEMIC FUND. 



14 



The injustice of this system is shown by the fact that 
even the idea of having the Counties share equally in the 
Fund has disappeared, and we now find that the amounts 
run all the way from $1,700.00 in Wicomico and Caroline 
Counties, to $200.00 in Carroll County. 

A complete list of the Counties with what each 
receives is as follows: 

Allegany County $1,200 Howard $1,200 

Anne Arundel 1,200 Kent 300 

Baltimore 1,200 Montgomery 1,400 

Calvert 1,200 Prince George 1,200 

Charles 400 Queen Anne 1.200 

Caroline 1,700 St. Mary's 400 

Carroll 200 Somerset 1,400 

Cecil 1,200 Talbot 1,200 

Dorchester 1,600 Washington 1,200 

Frederick 1,200 Wicomico 1,700 

Garrett 1,200 Worcester 1,200 

Harford 1,500 

RECAPITULATION: 

Of the $26,200 distributed in this way, $12,500 goes 
direct to seventeen County School Boards, who share di- 
rectly in this appropriation; $5,071.43 goes to eight High 
Schools, which are receiving in addition, the regular 
grants to approved High Schools from the High School 
Fund. $3,928.57 is going to eleven High Schools which 
are part of the Public School system but which are not 
able to qualify for the High School Fund. The money 
going to these classes of public high schools is not fairly 
distributed, these nineteen schools having a preference to 
which they are not rightly entitled; $1,600 is going to 
two Private Schools, which, while they may be doing fair 
work, are located in towns which have approved High 
Schools receiving State appropriations through regular 
channels, and are active competitors of such schools; 
$1,300 is going to two Private Schools, both of which are 
located in rural communities, and should be made Agricul- 
tural High Schools under County school authorities; $600 
is paid to two schools, doing only Elementary school work, 



15 



one of which has been almost superseded by a County 
School within a "stone's throw" of it; while the other 
should be clearly made a District school; $400 goes to an 
Elementary Parochial school, and $800 to an Institution 
no longer in existence. 

FREE BOOK FUND 

The Free Book Fund of $150,000.00 a year was estab- 
lished by an act of 1906. It is taken from the State school 
tax of 16|cts. on One Hundred Dollars ($100) and is dis- 
tributed on a basis of the total enrollment of pupils. 

FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUND 

The Free Public School Fund— the largest fund, con- 
sists of the 16|cts. Public School tax. This Fund is dis- 
tributed among the various Counties and the City of Balti- 
more in proportion to the number of inhabitants of school 
age; namely, the population between the ages of five and 
twenty. 

The distribution of this Fund is fully taken up later on 
in this Report, hence we pass over it here with this brief 
statement. 

APPROVED HIGH SCHOOL FUND 

In 1910, an Act was passed which systematized State 
Aid to High Schools. Two standards were created (as 
will be more fully explained under the High School Sec- 
tion of this Report) and a definite amount of money given 
to any High School in the State which comes up to the 
standards therein prescribed. During the school year of 
1911—12, there were twenty-five First Group schools re- 
ceiving from $2,300 to $2,500, or a total of $58,200; thirty- 
three Second Group Schools receiving $1,400 each or a 
total of $46,200, making a grand total of $104,400. 

COLORED INDUSTRIAL FUND 

Article 77, Sections 139, 140, 141, 143, 144, and 145 



16 



of the Code of Public General Laws describe the system 
of the Colored Industrial Schools. Under the provisions 
of these Sections any Board of County Commissioners 
which sees fit may establish a course in Domestic Science 
and Industrial Arts in connection with any of the Colored 
Elementary Schools of their County. A sum of $1,500 per 
year is appropriated for each County establishing such a 
system, provided that each colored school shall have an 
average attendance of thirty pupils and there are as many 
as ten colored schools in the county to which the fund is 
paid. The Act further provides for the appointment of a 
Superintendent for the work by the State Board of Edu- 
cation. This fund amounted last year to $16,500. 

PROPOSED BASIS OF DISTRIBUTION 

As will be seen, each of these funds is distributed on 
a different basis, and when it comes to appropriations to 
the various Private School and Colleges, there is apparent- 
ly no basis. Your Committee, therefore, suggests that 
the distribution of the School Fund be revised somewhat 
as follows: 

1. The expenses of administration should be taken 
out of the School tax. and the balance should be pro- 
vided out of the General Treasury. The expense of the 
State Normal Schools and the appropriations to Second- 
ary Schools and Institutions of higher learning, should 
be provided for out of the General Treasury, be distrib- 
uted on a basis of the following recommendation from 
the Federal Commissioner of Education: 

"A careful consideration of the present method by which the 
State of Maryland makes appropriations of public money for 
the support of secondary, special and higher education, suggests 
the advisability of a rigid adherence to the following fundamen- 
tal principles which are generally accepted as essential to efficiency, 
economy and equity in distributing public educational funds : 
These are: 



17 



•> 



"1. That appropriation should be made only to Intitu- 
tions over which the State through its regular educational 
officers, or thru Boards of its own appointment, may 
and does, exercise a direct and positive control. 

"If State appropriations are made for any particular work for a 
particular department of an Institution, the State might ex- 
ercise a direct and positive control over the particular work 
of the department receiving the benefit of the State Aid, with- 
out attempting in any way to control the entire Institution. The 
University of Vermont and State Argicultural College may be cited 
as an Institution which illustrates the arrangement suggested. 

' '2. That a common basis should be established for all 
Institutions of one kind, and for all political units of one 
kind; for example, Counties. Encouragement should be 
given to the State-aided private Secondary schools to trans- 
form themselves in to standard Public High schools, 
especially those which at present have only day pupils. 

"The State Board of Education is already authorized by law to 
prepare and publish annually, a list of approved Colleges and Uni- 
versities and determine by Bv-Laws. the standards for said ap- 
proval. (Chapter 169, Acts 1912.) 

"3. That duplication of appropriation by Special Act, 
or by continuing appropriations for scholarships, etc. 
should be eliminated entirely. In the case of Institutions 
receiving appropriations according to principles 1 and 2, 
continuing appropriations which may not be easily 
changed because of legal difficulties should be regularly 
deducted from the maximum appropriation which would 
ordinarily be made to the Institution on the basis stated 
above. 

"If a County or an Academy is entitled under the State law 
governing Secondary Institutions (High School Act, Chapter 386, 
Acts 1910) to received 82,500 and by a continuing appropriation 
(Acadamic Fund) receives Five Hundred Dollars ($500), the 
latter item should be deducted from the former in determining the 
share of the County or the Institution in State Funds. 

If these suggestions be carried out, then the appro- 
priations for approve High schools and Secondary schools 



18 



should be made on the basis hereinafter stated; the balance 
of the funds distributed among the Elementary Schools. 
Your Committee has given careful consideration to the 
matter of distributing this amount which constitutes the 
the bulk of the expense for educational purposes with 
the following result. 

State Aid to Public Elementary Schools is distributed 
in several States under a variety of plans, the principal 
ones being in proportion to: 

1. The wealth or assessed value of the community. This scheme 

merely makes the State the Collection Agent. It fails to 
give any aid to the poorer communities. It results in these 
communities having poor schools and it causes a lowering of 
the average intelligence througout the State. This method 
is the least desirable and is seldom used. 

2. The total population. This plan has no regard for the number 

of children attending school or for the work required to be 
done tho it is much more equitable than the preceding one. 

3. The school population between the ages of five and twenty 

years. This method, while it bears a closer relation to the 
real needs of the community than Number 1 and 2, does not 
take into consideration the actual number of schools required 
and the number of children receiving instruction in those 
schools. 

4. The number of children enrolled in school. This is an improve- 

ment over any of the preceding methods but it give no in- 
centive to the securing of regular attendance or a lengthen- 
ed school year. 

5. The average attendance. This encourages regular attendance 

but gives no incentive for a lengthened school year, and 
but little to the maintenance of schools in remote and 
sparsely populated sections where the attendance would be 
small. 

6. The aggregate days attendance. This is an incentive for regular 

attendance and for a lengthened school year, tho it fails 
properly to encourage the establishment of schools in re- 
mote sections. 

7. The number of teachers actually employed. This encourages 

the establishment of schools in remote sections and com- 
bined with the method No. 6 gives an ideal and equitable 
system of distribution. 

It would seem, then, that if the State is seriously in 
the business of educating its children without favor, treat- 



19 



ing each individual child with equal liberality without re- 
gard to his own, or his parents' wealth or the wealth of 
the community in which he happens to live, that the 
State funds for the maintenance of elementary schools 
should be distributed under the methods outlined in Num- 
bers 6 and 7; that is, a definite amount, say One Hun- 
dred and Fifty Dollars ($150) for each teacher employed 
and the remainder in proportion to the aggregate days at- 
tendence of pupils. In apportioning the amount for the 
number of teachers employed, it would be necessary to 
set a standard for the length of the school year. 

SCOPE OF COURSES 

The ideal course of study, such as is in vogue in all 
of the newer States, consists of a complete free system of 
education beginning at the Kindergarten and running 
through the Primary, Grammar, High School and State 
University, with subsidiary night schools and more or 
less community work. Of those at present time Mary- 
land's school system includes the Primary and Grammar 
Schools in all counties, and in many of them the High 
School. She has not yet developed a system of Kinder- 
gartens nor has she a State University. There are in Bal- 
timore City adequate Night Schools and a beginning of 
community extension work. These features had probably 
best be considered separately and we therefore pass on to 
a consideration of same in detail. 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 

In our consideration of the Elementary School problem, 
we beg to call your attention to three principal headings; 
First, Teachers; Second, Curriculum; Third, Compulsory 
Attendance. 

The end of all educational organization, the end of all 
systems for raising money and distributing it; the end of 



20 



all legislation in regard to Public School matters is the 
placing of a group of children in a room with certain text 
books and equipment, but above all, with a teacher. It 
matters not how elaborate may be the machinery, how 
costly and up-to-date the equipment, if the teacher is 
not up to the standard the whole educational system 
fails, and right here is one of the greatest defects in our 
present public system. Our laws at the present time pre- 
scribe no standard of training. Each County Commissioner 
is free to give a certificate to any person whom he sees 
fit and that person then has the right to teach, at least, in 
his County. Conseqently, there is at present a very unequal 
standard for teachers in various parts of the State, and 
even in the same County at different times. Just to show 
how low the standards in some of the Counties are, I append 
hereto a table taken from the report of the State Sup- 
erintendent of Education for the year 1909 showing the ed- 
ucation of new teachers appointed for the previous year: 



Counties 


Normal 
Grad's 


College 
Graduate 


Prep. lim. 
Pub.Sch. 


Total new 
Teachers 


Allegany 


13 

7 
27 
4 
3 
1 


1 


1 

6 


15 


Anne Arundel 


13 


Baltimore 


27 


Calvert 


8 
3 
2 
1 


3 

10 

6 

8 

10 

20 

12 

15 

13 

1 

9 

17 

5 

4 

9 

12 

15 

10 

10 

10 


15 


Caroline 


16 


Carroll 


9 


Cecil 


9 


Charles 




10 


Dorchester 


3 

1 
3 
6 

4 
4 
4 
2 
4 
2 
4 
4 
3 
6 
2 


7 
2 
1 
3 

4 
1 

1 
3 

1 

6 
2 

1 


30 


Frederick 


15 


Garrett 


17 


Harford 


22 


Howard 


9 


Kent 


14 


Montgomery 


22 


Prince George 


10 


Queen Anne 


9 


St. Mary 


11 


Somerset 


22 


Talbot 


19 


Washington 


22 


Wicomico 


16 


Worcester 


12 






Total 


105 


49 


210 


364 



21 



The above shows that out of three hundred and sixty- 
four new teachers employed for the years 1908-09, two 
hundred and ten had only Grammar School education ; one 
hundred and six Normal School education; and forty-nine 
had the advantage of a College education. There are two 
reasons for this deplorable condition. 

1. The salaries paid to our teachers are not sufficient to com- 
mand the character of teachers which this enlightened age 
demands. When we consider that the average salary paid 
in five Counties is less than Three Hundred Dollars 
($300), we realize why we cannot get a better grade of 
teachers. There is a law which puts Three Hundred Dollars 
($300) as the minimum salary for white teachers having an 
average attendance of ten pupils or more and this minimum 
increases according to length of service and kind of certificate 
held, but apparently this law is not being very well enforced. 

2. The lack of a sufficient capacity in our High Schools and 
Normal Schools, the report of the State Board of Education 
above quoted, shows that we are only graduating at the pres- 
ent time about one hundred teachers a year from our Normal 
schools. This is not sufficient. Furthermore, interviews with 
the various heads of Colleges in the State lead us to believe 
that the number and capacity of the High Schools of the State 
are insufficient for the number of pupils wishing to secure a 
High School education. 

CURRICULUM 

The Curriculum is at present outlined in the By- 
Laws of the State Board of Education quite fully, but if 
you compare the outline of curriculum as given here with 
a similar outline prescribed for use in the Baltimore Schools 
you will realize how much more full this curriculum could 
and should be made. Your committee realizes that the 
State Board of Education having a much wider field of 
work necessarily has a more difficult task in this respect 
but we are of the opinion that if the County Schools can 
be classified into: 

A. Ungraded County Schools 

B. Two to four teacher incompletely graded schools where 

each teacher has more than one grade 

C. Fully graded schools 

D. Short term schools. 



22 



Short term schools should be closed as rapidly as pos- 
sible. Detailed courses of study should be worked out for 
each of the above classifications somewhat on the line of 
courses of study as prescribed for the City schools. In 
this way, and only in this way, can the School system of 
State be unified and made complete. In this respect, the 
great demand for practical work should be recognized and 
provision made for Manual Training and Elementary Vo- 
cational work. No boy should be allowed to leave the Pub- 
lic Schools without a practical knowledge of using ordinary 
tools and no girl should be graduated without an element- 
ary knowedge of cooking and sewing. 

COMPULSORY EDUCATION 

A State- Wide Compulsory Education law was pas- 
sed in 1912 but drawn in such a way as to make it optional 
with each individual County as to whether or not to adopt 
and enforce it. It is highly essential that this Law be 
made actually State-wide as well as normally so and that we 
have compulsory education with adequate school attend- 
ance officers all over the State. 

HIGH SCHOOLS 

The High School act of 1910, above referred to, is re- 
garded by the Federal Department of Education, as one 
of the best on the Statute books of any of our States. It 
has several marked advantages. The Group System puts 
the State Aid on an entirely impartial basis and we feel 
that in time it will probably result in as good a High 
School system as there is in any State in the country. 

These requirements and the appropriation granted to 
each group are as follows: 

FIRST GROUP 

1. A bona fide enrollment of eighty or more pupils. 

2. Four or more academic teachers, full time or equivalent 

3. A four years' course of at least 36 actual school weeks in 

each year. 



23 



4. All courses of study shall conform to those prescribed by 

the State Board of Education. 

5. Salary of Principal shall be $1,200 or more, and that of 

Assistants regularly employed not less than $500. 

6. In addition to the regular academic courses shall provide 

Manual Training and Household economic courses 

7. Must provide a Commercial or an Agricultural course. 

8. Library of at least 100 volumes relating to secondary work. 

9. At least $250 worth of material and apparatus for science 

work until Board increases this minimum. 

10. Separate rooms set aside as a laboratory suitable for ex- 
perimental and demonstration work in Physics, Chemistry 
and Agriculture (not part of Recitation room). 
11. The diploma must show the course taken, Group of 
school and number of years of instruction given, and be 
signed by State Superintendent. 

SECOND GROUP 

1. A bona fide enrollment of thirty-five or more students. 

2. Two or more Academic teachers— full time or equivalent. 

3. Three years' course of at least 36 actual school weeks in 

each year. 

4. All courses shall conform to those prescribed by the State 

Board of Education. 

5. Salary of Principal shall be $1,000 or more and that of As- 

sistants regularly employed, not less than $500. 

6. In addition to the regular Academic course, shall provide 

one of the three following courses: Manual training, Agri- 
cultural or Commercial work. 

7. May extend course to four years by the employment of 

such additional teacher or teachers as the State Board 
may require, and where this is done the Manual Training 
course shall include household economics for girls. 

8. Library of at least 100 volumes relating to Secondary work. 

9. Separate room set aside as a Laboratory suitable for ex- 

perimental and demonstration work in Physics, Chemis- 
try and Agriculture not part of a recitation room. 

10. At least $150 worth of apparatus and material for science 
work until the State Board increases this minimum. 

11. The diploma must show the course taken, Group of School 

and number of years instruction given, and must be 
signed by State Superintendent. 

The appropriation to a First Group High School is: 

The sum of Six Hundred Dollars ($600 on account of the salary 
of the Principal and the sum of Three Hundred Dollars ($300) on 
account of each of the first three Assistants employed for regular 
High School work; the sum of Four Hundred Dollars ($400) on 



24 



account of each of the two Special Teachers who shall spend not 
less than two- fifths of their time in the School receiving said 
amount; the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100) on account of each 
additional regular grade teacher provided the total amount does not 
exceed the sum of Two Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.) 

The appropriation to a Second Group High School is: 

The sum of Six Hundred Dollars ($600) on account of the salary 
of Principal; the sum of Four Hundred ($400) on account of one 
Assistant teacher employed for regular High School work; the 
sum Four Hundred Dollars ($400) on account of the Instructor of 
special subject to be designed by the County School Board. 

AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS 

The marked success of twelve Agricultural High 
Schools is such as to make highly advisable the further 
encouragement of this type of Secondary Education. The 
demand for Agricultural courses all over the State is very 
great and your Committee recommends some additional 
aid along this line. 

PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

In addition to the above, there are seven private sec- 
ondary Schools receiving State aid: the following table 
will show statistics of same: 

Am't rec'd Day Boarding Scholar- 

Pupils Pupils ship 

Anne Arundel Academy $3,800 14 33 44 

West Nottingham Academy 500 36 5 

Rockville Academy 800 50(1) 8 

Charlotte Hall School 8, 100 40 43 27 

McDonough Institute 5,500 37 32 26 

St. Mary's Female Seminary 7,500 93 28 

(1) This number estimated, as this institution has neglected to report to this Board, 
although repeatedly sent blanks and requested so to do. 

In accordance with the suggestion of the Federal 
Commissioner of Education, your Committee begs to 
suggest that the appropriations to Rockville and Allegany 
Academies be discontinued as these Institutions are both 
located in towns where their work is being parallelled by 
approved High Schools. 



25 



In the case of the five Secondary Schools receiving State 
aid which are not parallelled by High Schools and which 
are more or less needed to supplement the regular High 
School system, your Committee recommends that the Coun- 
ties which conduct no High Schools be permitted to contract 
with private Secondary Schools now in existence whose 
curriculum and methods are approved by the State Board 
of Education according to its High School standards; and 
that such contracts be drawn as to provide free tuition to 
all pupils; the salaries of the teachers and all expenses ex- 
cept those connected with boarding and rooming features 
to be borne by the County and the State on the same basis 
as those of approved High Schools, and the students to pay 
their own board. 

In addition to these seven Schools, there are nineteen 
High Schools participating in the Academic Fund by virtue 
of the fact that they were private Academies and as such 
secured appropriations from the Legislature. Your Com- 
mittee recommends that these be either discontinued or 
that the amount of money payable to such schools under 
the Academic Fund be deducted from the amount payable 
to them as Approved High Schools. 

COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOLS 

In addition to these Secondary Schools, practically all 
of the Maryland Colleges conduct Preparatory Schools. 
They all agree that if possible they would like to abandon 
these, but claim they are so frequently called upon to take 
boys and girls who come from localities where there are 
no High Schools, that they feel the necessity of continuing 
these schools. They state that in many instances, parents 
are not willing to send their children to the High Schools 
even though they be located in their own County because 
of the necessity of the students having to board in the 
Towns and are hence without supervision except during 



26 



school hours. In this connection, your Committee begs to 
recommend that the establishment of Dormitories in con- 
nection with High Schools where the pupils are so scattered 
as to necessitate their boarding while attending school, be 
encouraged. Said Domitories to be under the direction of 
the High School authorities, to be run at cost, but to occas- 
sion no expense either to the State or the County, except 
their erection, and until they prove their value, houses 
might be rented. 

There are at present many of the College scholar- 
ships being enjoyed by pupils doing Preparatory School 
work. Inasmuch as Maryland does support High Schools 
all over the State, it seems inconsistent that it should 
pay private Institutions to do High School work. None 
of these Scholarships can be held more than four years 
by any one student, hence, such students as use their 
Scholarships for Preparatory work are compelled to 
finish their College course at their own expense or else 
to drop out before they graduate. Your Committee, 
therefore, recommends that all candidates for scholar- 
ships be prepared for College entrance. 

COLLEGES 

There are at the present time, six Institution claiming 
to do college work, which are receiving aid from the State. 
These colleges are as follows : Blue Ridge College, Johns 
Hopkins University, Maryland Agricultural College, St. 
Johns' College, Washington College, and Western Mary- 
land College. Of these, the only one listed as a college by 
the Carnegie Foundation or by the definition adopted by the 
State Board of Education, is Johns Hopkins University, 
This definition is we think, fairly descriptive of what a 
college should be and is brief, any Institution doing four 
years work beyond a four year High School course, and 
having at lease six professors, giving their full time to 



27 



collegiate work. The entrance requirments of all five of the 
other schools are below the standard. 

There has, however, been a marked increase in the 
standard of several of the Institutions in the last few years, 
and we feel that if we can bring additional pressure to bear 
on them, they would, of their own free will, increase their 
standard to bring their entrance requirements up to the 
fourteen units set by the Carnegie Foundation. In addi- 
tion to this, these schools, with the exception of Johns 
Hopkins conduct Preparatory schools which parallel the 
work of the County High Schools, and while much may 
be said in favor of such schools, it seems to us, poor policy 
to encourage them. 

There is in these Colleges, two distinct kinds of dup- 
lication of High School work. First, in all save Johns 
Hopkins University and probably the St, John's College, 
the regular college course for the first year or two dupli- 
cates High School work. This it seems to us is exceeding- 
ly bad, and we strongly advise that we limit the future 
appropriations to such colleges as are approved according 
to the standards of the State Board of Education. 

Second. From one-fourth to one-half of the students 
no win these colleges are in the Preparatory classes, all of 
which work is duplicated by the State High Schools, and 
it would seem to be the logical thing for the State to limit 
the use of these scholarships to persons doing full college 
work, and in other ways, as far as possible to discourage 
the continuance of these preparatory classes. 

That the State's appropriations are duplicated at 
the present time is shown by he fact that four of 
these Institutions, namely, Blue Ridge College. St. John's 
College, Washington College and Western Maryland Col- 
lege do about the same kind of work. The time when a 
college was local and only administered to the immediate 
surrounding country is gone and the State is spending a 
great deal of money to poor advantage in the support of 



28 



two or three Institutions, all of which are doing the same 
kind of work and all of which are competitors for students. 
In addition, it may be stated that these six colleges 
grant scholarship as follows: 

Bd.&Tui- Tui- Appro- Per Catalogue Actual 

Name tionScho tion priation Capita Charges Cost 

larehips Paym't Per capita 

Blue Ridge College 27 $5,000 $185(1) $183 $164.66 

JohnHopkinsTechSchool 27 102 50,000 546(2) 150 

Md. Agri. College 27 16,000 592(3) 240 230.02 

St. John's College 27 27 29,700 635(4) 300 356.50 

Washington College .... 36 27 30,775 529(5) 203 245.76 

Western Md. College... 54 28 13,800 269(6) 225 167.92 

John Hopkins University 84 25,000 297 160 

(1) To this, should be added a charge of ($75.00) to 
the student required by the Trustees, making a per captia 
of ($260) actually received. 

(2) Two hundred dollars ($200) of this amount is by 
law to be given to each of the twenty-seven boarding 
scholarships in lieu of board. 

(3) To this should be added ($120) received from 
scholarship students, making a per capita, of ($712) 
actually received. 

(4) One hundred and seventy-four dollars ($174) of 
this represents board paid co-operative Boarding Club for 
each of the twenty seven boarding scholarships. 

(5) Ninety-six dollars ($96) of this represents board 
paid co-operative Boarding Club for each of the thirty-six 
boarding scholarships. 

(6) This is arrived at by deducting from appropriation 
the cost of twenty-eight day students at a regular cata- 
logue price of Forty-five dollars per year and figuring the 
per captia. for the boarding students on the remainder. 

Maryland is at present spending for higher education 
each year the sum of $260,193.86 for maintenance pur- 
poses only, yet she is only providing collegiate education for 
a small portion of her student class. It has been stated 
previously in this Report that the State should maintain 
a complete course from the Kindergarten through the 



29 



State University. In most of the newer States, the Col- 
legiate work of the State educational system is by a Uni- 
versity owned and maintained by the State, and were 
Maryland starting her educational system de novo this 
would probably be the logical course to pursue here. How- 
ever such is not the case. 

We have now in this State, these six Institutions of 
higher learning, all of which have existed for years, have 
a long and honorable history, many influential friends, and 
alumni whose standing in the community is of the highest. 

These Institutions, however, represent different con- 
stituencies, different ideals and work on more or less dif- 
ferent methods, although as above pointed out, at least four 
of them are doing about the same class of work. Such 
being the case, it would seem almost hopeless to succeed in 
working out any system of amalgamation whereby these 
Institutions would become parts of one organization. Your 
Committee therefore feels that the only practical unifying 
force is the department representing the State, which is 
charged with the oversight of these Institutions. 

We do believe that with a properly constituted and ef- 
ficient State Board of Education, having broad powers or- 
der could be worked out of the present chaos and the State 
get much better returns for the money invested than it 
now does. We therefore recommend that all appropriation 
to Institutions of higher learning be made on a basis of 
contract between those Institutions and the State Board 
of Education; that the State Board of Education be given 
the authority to set standards and distribute scholarships 
in such a way as to cover the whole field of higher educa- 
tion in about the proportion of its various departments as is 
the demand for these departments and that the cost to the 
State shall bear some definite relationship to the cost to 
the Institution. Furthermore, that the State make con- 
tracts with these Institutions which will give the highest 



30 



standard for the least money on the part of the State 
and that all duplication between the college and the high 
school system of the State be eliminated. These contracts 
should be so worded that the Institutions with whom they 
are made become a recognized part of the public school 
system of the State. 

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

In conclusion, your Committee begs to state that 
while the theory on which the Elementary School System 
of which Maryland is run, is highly regarded by most edu- 
cational authorities, yet, they find many faults, nearly 
all of which can be attributed to one of two causes: 

First and greatest is lack of money. In this respect, 
your Committee feels that the present system of distrib- 
uting the money used for educational purposes (if it may 
be called a system) is so complicated that the best results 
cannot be obtained. It is here that the greatest reorgan- 
ization should take place. 

The second reason for inefficiency in our Elementary 
System is the lack of sufficient centralized authority. 
This manifests itself in two ways: 

1. The standard of teachers differs in each County 
and at different times, in the same County. 

2. The text books used and the details of a course 
of instruction also differ in each individual County so 
that there is a decided lack of uniformity. 

The present High School system of the State needs little or no 
correction, it being one of the best in existence at the present time, 
so far as your Committee could learn. There are, however, a great 
many parts of the State in which there are no High Schools and in parrs 
the communities are so small and scattered as not to afford sufficiant 
pupils to run an approved High School. Some method should be de- 
vised to remedy this defect. The present awakening and demand for 



31 



i^' 



technial instruction in agriculture in High Schools is not being met 
by the school authorities as your Committee feels it should be. 

The appropriation through the Acadmic Fund and special appro- 
priations in the Legislature' are in many cases given to private schools 
which duplicate the work being done by the High Schools and in all 
cases, are given without any regard for the value recerved by the 
State or to an equal distribution of the fund in various parts of the 
State. 

In the field of higher education, the State has apparently had no 
policy in the past. It has given aid to various small colleges through- 
out the State with neither system nor standard. Its money has been 
split up so as to preclude efficiency. The scholarships supposed to be 
given in return for State appropriations have in many cases been be- 
stowed on pupils doing High School work. The State has consistently 
paid the board of many of these pupils while attending college on the 
one hand, while on the other many pupils who could and should enjoy 
the benefits of a college education on the same basis that elementary 
education is given by the State, are are denied the privilege. 

In order to remedy these various defects, your Committee recom- 
mends the following measures: 

first: That all of the several funds now going to Educational 
purposes in this State be abolished and that in lieu thereof, the State 
make provision for its elementary education by giving to each Coun- 
ty a fixed sum annually for each teacher employed and distribute 
the remainder of the funds for elementary education pro rata, accor- 
ding to the aggregate attendance. (Aggregate attendance in this 
case is intended to mean the total number of pupil days — each child 
counting one for each day he is present in school.) In addition, pro- 
vision should be made in the levy for aid to approved High Schools 
on the basis of the present law, and also a sufficient sum to provide 
suitably for higher education. 

second: The increase of the present State levy of 16Jcts. on 
the One Hundred dollars ($100) by a sufficient amount to cover the 
above requirements. On the present taxable basis, this rate should 
be not less than twenty cents (20cts.). 

third: That the authority of the State Board of Education be in- 
creased so that it alone will be able to: 

A. Grant certificates to teachers. Certificates to be granted 
in accordance with examinations made out and marked by itself, 
such examinations to be uniform throughout the State. 

B. Prescribe to the minutest detail, the course of study and 
the text books to be used; these to be fixed on a system of grades of 
schools, and to be uniform throughout the State for each grade. 

fourth: That the Compulsory Education law of the State be 
made State- wide in fact as well as in name. 

fifth: That the present High School system of the State be ex- 
tended to cover the whole State. In order to accomplish this in more 
sparsely settled communties, the Board recommends establishment 



32 



of free bus service from one small town to another, where this is prac- 
ticable, and where not, the establishment of High School Dormitories 
under the control of the High School authorities to be run at cost. 

sixth: That the introduction of agricultural courses in rural 
High Schools be further encouraged and that these be so articulated 
with the Maryland Agricultural College and the State Experiment 
Station, so as to make the whole a part of the State system. 

seventh: That all special appropriations to private secondary 
school be abolished and that where such schools exist in communities 
which are not covered by said High Schools, contractual relations be 
enter into with such of these schools whose curriculum and methods 
are approved by the State Board of Education according to its High 
School standards. The salaries of teachers and all expenses con- 
nected with the Institution aside from board, room, rent and courses 
not called for by the State High School curriculum, such as paint- 
ing and instrumental music, be borne by the County and State on 
the same basis as those of approved High Schools; students to pay 
their own board. 

EIGHTH: That all appropriations to various colleges be abolished, 
and that contractual relations be entered into with such institu- 
tions of higher learning as may be approved by the Board of Edu- 
cation under terms by which these institutions shall become a recog- 
nized part of the Public School system of the State, to remain so as 
long as their standards are in accordance with those prescribed by 
the State Board of Education; said Institutions to be compensated on 
a per capita basis to be stated in the contract. 

ninth: In view of the fact that Recommendation No. 8 is an 
ultimate rather than an immediate result, your Committee recom- 
mend that all applicants for scholarships in colleges receiving State 
appropriations be prepared to matriculate in the regular colleges de- 
partments of such colleges, that all appropriations to so-called Insti- 
tutions of higher learning be immediately limited to those Institu- 
tion which conform to the definition of the college as given by the 
the State Board of Education, and be put on a per capita basis at 
rates no higher than those charged regular pay students. 

tenth: In view of the fact that the State Board of Education 
is charged with the supervision of the entire educational system 
of the State, the expenditure of all State money for educational 
purposes, whether public or private, be placed under the supervision 
of the State Board of Education. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Philip Briscoe 

Thomas M. Bartlett 

H. Wirt Steele 

Committee 



33 



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